The Long Walk - Fisherfields

This walk is without doubt, the longest we have attempted in our rather ridiculous Munro quest ... or ever. Ruadh stac Mor and A'Mhaighdean are two of the remotest mountains over 3000' in Scotland. There are no roads or bothies nearby, so most walkers choose a remote bothy Shenaval or the wild camping option to get to them. However, we balanced up the huge walk against the alternatives of slightly shorter walks with camp gear and the prospect of resting aching limbs in a tent afterwards, and decided on the option to cycle up the first 7km then do the whole 32km walk in one hit. Even knowing this, the reality of it only really struck as we got to the base of our first target hill with the knowledge that after climbing the two hills in front, we had the huge plod back out again to the bikes.
The two mountains themselves were truly remarkable Torridonian specimens of very different characters. A'Mhaighdean comprises an angled slab up to a castellated bastion towering over the Poolewe coast and Lewis beyond. Then a deep drop between the two, over a band of pale green twisted Lewisian rock, before a sharp climb up the red sandstone pyramid of Ruadh stac Mor. Geologically fascinating, these two distinctive layers are separated by a billion years in time, but have been squashed and twisted by the tectonic thrusting in the millennia since. The Lewisian basement rock here has been thrust up through the Torridonian by forces so great it contains fragments of shattered Torridonian in its plasticine distorted layers.

Main shot is the sunset on the way back. Aching limbs and sore feet, we welcomed the sight of the bikes and got back to the car about 15 hours after leaving it.

Extras show view from A'Mhaighdean and the two mountains from the beallach below, 5hours in on the walk and the climb only just beginning.